Kome

This review is based on a combination of several experiences that I’ve had with First Bank, Nigeria.

A few weeks ago, I went to the First Bank of Nigeria PLC, Mushin branch, Lagos. This particular branch has been giving me serious headaches for the past 4 months. It all started in April.

One fateful day, I decided to go to the bank to withdraw money because my ATM card was recently lost and there’s no First bank branch on my campus. So first of all, I had to ‘travel’ all the way to Mushin to withdraw money. When I got there I had to cue for almost 1 hour and 30minutes after which I found out that my account was frozen. I was then directed to Customer Services. The lady that attended to me was so rude, she kept talking to her colleagues like I wasn’t in front of her. Finally she told me it was an issue I had to sort out with my main branch, which is located in Abuja. I told her my main branch was in Abuja and she said there was nothing she could do, that I just had to travel to Abuja to sort it out. All of this happened on a Friday, which meant that I had to spend the weekend with zero naira on me. I can’t even begin to explain how I survived it. Thank God for provisions and free transport with the school bus. By Monday, my dad sent me money through a friend’s account. And that was how it continued for about a month before the issue was sorted out. I had to endure more than a month with a frozen account, and students out there, you know how difficult that is. I didn’t even get an apology text from the bank because the fault was from their end.

Anyway, after that, I applied for a new ATM card, at that same branch because it’s the closest to my school and I was told to come back in a week to collect it, “because it’s a Mastercard”. A week later, I came back to collect my card. When I got there I had to wait, as usual, for about 30minutes before I was attended to. The first thing the lady did was roll her eyes. I couldn’t even say anything because I was exhausted, so I just sat down. Then she said, and I quote “These ATM people won’t leave me alone”. I mean, who says that to a customer? I sat there while she gisted with her colleague in front of me, like I was invisible. I endured all this because I noticed the lady was pregnant, and they tend to get irritable so I didn’t want any ‘wahala’. It wasn’t obvious but you know, as a medical student I could tell. Lol.

After she handed me the card, I was directed to another room to change my pin, where I had to do another round of waiting. After all this waiting the guy finally told me that I had to come back the Monday after to try again. I almost exploded. I was so furious. My friend who escorted me to the bank was trying so hard to suppress his laughter, because I always smile. I do not have a pretty ‘angry face’. He was able to cheer me up at the end of the day, thanks to God.

On Monday, I was back again. The first thing I did was go straight to the room where I was to change my pin. The guy told me there was no service, AGAIN!!! I was fed up, I was already concluding in my head that I was going to open another account with another branch. Luckily, I had brought my withdrawal slip so I joined the cue. There was so much chaos as people were getting so impatient that they started forming their own cues in order to leave early. The cashiers got angry and almost decided to stop attending to us. Then one of the sensible ones decided to do some crowd control. After much effort, he finally succeeded. Some guards were positioned at different points to ensure that people follow the cue. The guards were very rude, to say the least. While all this was happening, I was standing on the cue patiently waiting, thinking about the class I was going to miss if I didn’t leave the bank on time. When it almost got to my turn, 2 cashiers got up and left. One of them said she had to use the toilet and the other one didn’t even give any explanation. The cashier who went to the toilet finally came back after about 20minutes. I was so glad when she handed me my money. It was like I was receiving a piece of heaven. Then I decided to try my luck again at the ATM room. I screamed in my subconscious when the man told me the pin change was successful. I almost hugged him, but I held myself and quickly ran out of that bank as fast as I could.

Now what’s the point of this long story? Bank managers should pay more attention to the needs of their customers. I don’t think I even saw a complaint box in that branch. And the workers should learn to be more patient and respectful to their clients. I know a lot of people who wouldn’t take up to a quarter of what I’ve endured from First Bank. I hope after this review some actions are taken with due effect.

Photo Gallery 2

Sort By

I am currently at First Bank (Berger branch) and I am so poissed ! There is nothing good to write about this bank. I have been on a queue for the past 1 hour . The atm is not working , the staffs are not even concerned about if we r satisfied or not . Everybody is complaining, the security men are just talking to us as if we are not important, I am tired of this bank andd its unfortunate that my mother uses this bank. I am TIRED!!!

I do not bank with First Bank, but I hear of their travails all over my school (University of Benin). No one spends less than 45 minutes for a withdrawal. Everything is just slow and sluggish, even the electric doors are a trouble to go through. Oh! Let’s not even talk about their ATMs that are almost always out of service or never able to dispense cash. Whenever my coursemate and I go to the bank street(which has several banks adjacent to one and other), she doesn’t bother going to her bank if she’s got her ATM with her, firstly, because before she reaches the front of the queue at the ATM stand, I’d have received all my services at my bank (proudly Zenith Bank), secondly, since there’s no charge on withdrawals, its not worth the stress. I love my bank. I do free publicity for my bank. I represent my bank cause we’ve got class. I love my bank so much I’ve got a special zenith bag for a precious set of clothes. I advice people to open accounts with my bank and trust me, no one pays me for this. I do that cause at Zenith Bank, you get impeccable and swift service. Bank with us today.

Advertise Here!

...Because your opinion matters!

At ReviewNaija our goal is to create a community where we can discuss and rate companies in different industries in Nigeria based mainly on quality of products and customer service. Our hope is that, eventually, this site will make people aware of what companies in Nigeria have to offer while helping them make various decisions (where to eat, bank, start/continue one’s career, airlines to fly, etc).